


Splendid Potential

by threerings



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Caleb not being able to deal with Feelings in general, Caleb seeks solitude and Molly follows, Conversation and Magical Experimentation, Episode Tag, Episode Tag for 2x21, M/M, Molly starting to realize he has Feelings, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Soft Boys, hey guys did you know Caleb can in theory now cast Tiny Hut?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-18 19:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14858588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threerings/pseuds/threerings
Summary: Caleb needs to be away from The Mighty Nein after the confrontation over Calianna's bowl, so he wanders off alone.  Molly follows because he can't let his wizard get eaten by a troll.Just a little episode tag for Ep 21, in which Molly and Caleb bond and talk and spent a platonic night together.  I blame this entirely on the way Caleb smiled when Molly called him 'Mr. Caleb.'





	Splendid Potential

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how one gif inspired this whole thing, but it did. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Molly and Caleb discuss the argument with Beau a bit. Opinions expressed by the characters in this fic don't necessarily represent the views of the author. This isn't me trying to take a side in the great Beau vs. Caleb debate. I'm fully Team 'They Both Have Good Character Reasons'.

After climbing the rope back to the small room inside the tree, Molly quickly surveyed the other members of the Mighty Nein laying out their bedrolls. Caleb was nowhere to be seen. He opened his mouth to ask where he’d gone, when he spied Nott in the corner, casting worried glances towards the entrance. After another moment her eyes caught his own and he approached her.

“Did Caleb leave?” 

She nodded with a frown. “He wouldn’t let me follow him. I tried.” 

“Do you think…?” he didn’t finish the question and instead shook his head. “I’ll go check on him.” Nott exhaled and for a moment looked almost grateful, before scrunching up her face again.

“Don’t let him get eaten by a swamp monster,” she hissed. Molly nodded and turned to open the passageway out of the tree. 

He stepped into the water surrounding the tree with a grimace. He was starting to feel he’d never be dry again after all this wandering around in the swamp. His boots at least kept the water from soaking through immediately, but they hadn’t even had time to dry since they’d waded through the first time. 

Once through the water he looked around sharply and inhaled, searching for Caleb. He spotted a trail of freshly trodden and dampened ground leading from the edge of the pool around to the far side of the tree and he followed, nervously trying to keep an eye on the trees surrounding the clearing. Trolls and gators and who knew what else could be lurking nearby. Caleb was being thoroughly foolish and either intentionally or unintentionally reckless by being out here alone. Molly would have to wait to find out exactly what kind of idiot the wizard was being once he knew why in the hells he had come out here.

Almost more disturbing was the fact that no one had stopped him, and that Molly was the only one who bothered to follow. He liked his companions, honestly he did, but there were times when he had to remind himself they weren’t necessarily trustworthy. Even those he had come to see as reliable could suddenly surprise him in a moment like this. 

Ahead of him, just visible through the fog settling in for the evening around the edges of the clearing, he spotted Caleb. The ragged figure was standing a few feet from the edge of the pool, staring into the barely perceptible treeline. On first glance, his posture could have been that of someone who had spotted something threatening, but as Molly got a better look at his face he saw whatever Caleb was staring at, it wasn’t in this swamp. His eyes were focused on thin air and his face was locked into an expression of mild pain or perhaps disgust. Frumpkin moved around his feet, weaving around the wizard’s legs, but Caleb showed no signs of noticing.

The look on his face made something in Molly’s chest tighten. In that moment he realized he’d come to care for Caleb, that perhaps he was the only one to follow him out here because he was the only person besides Nott who truly cared about Caleb’s well-being. The thought scared him more than a little, realizing how tenuous the connections between all of them were, how little connected Caleb, or himself come to think about it, to any other person. The thought was enough to sap his confidence, make him pause in his approach, make his steps to stutter to a slow stop a few feet shy of the other man. 

He stood for several breaths waiting to see if Caleb reacted to his presence, but there was no movement from him and no sound other than that of the creatures of the swamp chirping and buzzing all around them. 

“Caleb?” he called. He watched as the thin figure turned towards him, slowly, not startled or showing any surprise. He could just make out the blue of Caleb’s eyes through the fading light. For a moment, there was no recognition in those eyes, and then Caleb’s brows drew together and he cocked his head.

“Mollymauk?” he asked, as if there was another purple tiefling in a rainbow-colored coat who might be approaching him in this swamp. Molly ignored his strange manner and shot him a smile. 

“Came to make sure you didn’t get eaten by anything,” he said, closing the final few feet between them. “What are you doing out here alone?”

Caleb looked around at the trees and the fog and seemed to consider the question for the first time. “It was preferable to being in there,” he said finally. 

“Ah,” replied Molly. “Well, I hope you don’t mind some company, because I for one would feel really bad if you got eaten by a troll.” Caleb’s eyes tracked up to his face at that, and for an instant he met Molly’s eyes. A very small smile curved his lips for an instant before he looked away. 

“This isn’t the most comfortable place to hang out, though. If only there were a place to sit that wasn’t wet as hell and made of rotted muck...” Molly cast his gaze around to see if there _were_ any better place to occupy for a while. He really wanted to get off his feet and take his boots off, maybe dry out a little. 

“Well,” said Caleb thoughtfully. “There _is_ something...I might be able to do.” Molly looked at him with interest. “But it’s not...it seems silly, when the rest of the group is...right in there. And I’ve never actually tried it yet.” 

“Is this that thing you mentioned before? The house?” Molly heard the excitement bleeding into his voice. He liked traveling, but he missed the comforts he’d had even with the circus. 

“Not the house, no,” corrected Caleb. “I want eventually to manage something like that...but I think I _can_ do a small space. It would be dry and comfortable, I think.” He looked wistful and eager, a spark of almost childlike enthusiasm showing in his eyes. 

“Well, give it a try, then!” Molly gestured in encouragement. Even if it didn’t work, at least Caleb was looking more himself, less lost than he had a minute before. As if in confirmation of this thought, Caleb shot him a sly grin and Molly felt himself smile back widely. 

“Alright, give me a minute or so...it might take a little while. Stay within a few feet of me, don’t stray too far.” Molly nodded and crossed his arms in front of himself to wait. Caleb dug in a pouch for a moment and then closed his eyes, holding something small in his hand. His breathing deepened and slowed, his eyelids flickering and lips barely moving as if he spoke to himself silently. 

Molly enjoyed the ability to stare at the wizard without being observed in turn. He took in the finely boned features, the full lips, the arched brows that normally drew down in a perpetual frown, but which made him look far younger when relaxed. Caleb was beautiful, if one took the time to see past the dirt and self-effacing mannerisms. Molly felt the urge to step closer, to raise a hand to feel the stubble on his cheek or push his auburn hair back and feel its texture. 

Lost as he was in these fantasies, he was rather startled when Caleb made a sharp gesture with his hand and a sudden change occurred all around him. Molly turned his head this way and that to take in as much as he could, fascinated by the shimmering sheen of _something_ which suddenly existed in a dome surrounding them. He took a step to turn and look behind him and realized the surface under his feet had changed as well: no longer marshy ground, but a flat, dry, grayish circle under his boots. He stomped his feet a few times to test the surface. It had the consistency of wood without the seams of planks. 

He turned back to Caleb and instantly broke into a grin at the wizard’s delighted and triumphant expression. If Caleb had been beautiful in concentration, in exultation he was breathtaking. “I _knew_ I could manage it!” he cried, eyes dancing and tracing over the result of his spell. “It’s just a start, of course, and not very big, but it’s warm and dry.” 

“It’s wonderful, Caleb,” said Molly genuinely. “How long does it last?”

“Several hours, at the least,” replied Caleb, turning back to him. “We should be able to move in and out as well.” 

“Shall I test it?” Caleb nodded eagerly. 

“Please.” Molly approached the barrier, both hands extended in front of him. As his fingers neared the shimmer of magic he could sense a slight buzz, a sense somewhere in his mind that alerted him to the presence of the arcane. He pushed forward, his hands moving through the barrier with only the slightest tingle, so he continued and soon stood once more in the open air. The sudden change in temperature caught him off guard and he shivered before turning to look back at Caleb. 

But he couldn’t see him at all. The dome of the shelter stood before him, a flat gray expanse, completely opaque. He waved a hand over the surface and then looked in the direction his memory told him Caleb stood and shrugged. 

“I can’t see you,” he called. “It looks solid.” He didn’t get a response of any kind, so he carefully extended his fingers to the surface of the dome and trepidatiously reached forward. He almost expected it to shock or repel him backwards, so he nearly stumbled when it did not, the seeming solidity of the barrier giving way easily and allowing him to walk back inside. 

“...should let you...” Caleb had evidently been speaking, though he heard only the last few words. Molly looked around, wondering at the fact that the dome over his head was translucent once more. 

“Could you hear me?” he asked. 

Caleb cocked his head. “Ja?”

“Oh, well, I couldn’t hear you, or see you at all. It just looks solid from outside.” Caleb nodded. “So can anyone come through it?” 

“No. It should be safe from intrusion from anyone I don’t allow inside.” 

“Well,” said Molly, looking around the dimly lit space. “I suppose we can settle down here, then. I could get our bedrolls?” Caleb looked at him and frowned slightly. Molly’s stomach dropped. “That is, unless...I guess I can leave you out here alone now that you’re protected,” he added quickly.

Caleb smiled at him slightly. “I _am_ thoroughly capable of protecting myself, Mollymauk.” Molly raised his brows and sent him a look, but decided against commenting on that. The number of times he’d seen Caleb fall in battle flashed through his mind.

“Well, if you’d rather be alone...” He didn’t like the feeling of disappointment that went through him. 

“Ah...” Caleb’s voice interrupted him as he turned to go. “I would be fine by myself, but if you wish to stay, you may.” It was difficult to tell, but Molly thought he could see some color flush across his cheeks. 

Molly made a show of considering, and then replied, “It would be a shame to waste all this space. It was looking crowded in there already when I left. So I’ll fetch our things?“ Caleb nodded. “And Nott was worried...”

“Oh. Yes, she can come as well,” said Caleb. Molly smiled as he left, but inwardly cursed. He’d been looking forward to having the wizard all to himself, for once. 

He made his way back through the cursed water to the tree, triggering the door mechanism and slipping inside. He could hear the light snores and deep breathing of some of the group already, and the rest seemed to be on their way to sleep. Nott and Yasha sat up on watch, huddled into their cloaks. They both looked up at him eagerly as he entered. A look of concern crossed Nott’s face when she saw he was alone.

“Where’s Caleb?” she hissed. 

“He’s fine,” Molly assured her. “He made a magical shelter out there and we’re going to spend the night there. He said you can come.” He looked to Yasha. “If that’s alright?” She nodded silently and he smiled back, grateful for her reliable calm. As quickly and quietly as he could he gathered the remaining bedrolls and led Nott outside. She managed a neat leap to the far side of the water, avoiding a nasty swim. Molly sighed and waded through once more, the bedding held on his shoulders. 

They walked around to the far side of the tree to the dome and he walked straight through the barrier, to show Nott it was possible. He was barely inside before he heard a shout of surprise from behind him. He turned and saw Nott standing with her hands pressed against the invisible dome. 

“What gives?” she shouted, knocking against the translucent wall with one fist. “Caleb??” 

“Oh,” said Caleb from behind him. “I thought I could let her in. Guess not.” He walked through the dome to explain things to his friend and Molly remained to roll out his bed and finally get rid of his boots and dry out a little. He could hear Caleb and Nott’s conversation, a little muffled by the magic, but he didn’t pay much attention. Nott was upset with Caleb for telling her to stay behind, and worrying her. Caleb didn’t say much in response, but assured her he’d see her in the morning, then returned through the wall. 

Molly was still tugging at his second boot, the wet leather uncooperative. He felt Caleb’s eyes on him.  
“Gods, I’m glad to be free of those,” he exclaimed in a friendly tone as his foot finally popped free. 

Caleb was unrolling his bedding but after a few moments of silence replied, “They seem complicated.” 

Molly sent a beaming grin over at him. “They are, but they keep me clean and _usually_ dry, but this swamp is making them a misery.” Caleb merely made a vague hmph of acknowledgment in reply. Molly pulled out some dried rations and a flask of wine from his pack and settled in to chew an unappetizing meal. 

When Caleb sat on his own bedroll about a foot away he offered the meager provisions to him, but he shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”

“You should eat, though. I know it’s not that tempting.” He ripped another hunk off the jerky and winked. 

“I...am alright.” Caleb paused and seemed to think of something. “What are you drinking?”

“Cheap wine,” he answered, tipping the bottle in his direction and waggling it. “Help you sleep?”

“Yeah,” said Caleb in a slightly dull tone. “Alright.” He reached out and took it from Molly’s hand. He counted this a win, though he wasn’t sure having wine on an empty stomach was better than nothing, but decided he couldn’t play nursemaid to a grown man. Even if Caleb sometimes made him want to. He had Nott for that. 

Molly choked down the last of his meat and dry biscuit and laid back against the ground. The floor of the shelter was an improvement on sleeping on hard ground, especially in this terrain. The air was temperate and pleasant, with no cold leeching up through the blankets. “I could get used to this,” he commented. “Definite improvement on sleeping in the open.”

“Yeah.” Caleb passed the bottle back. They sat in silence for a while, both staring up through the shimmering barrier as the stars appeared in the sky above them. With the security of the dome around them, the swamp seemed far less threatening, the night sounds almost pleasant. He could just make out the sound of Frumpkin purring from where he was curled up on Caleb’s lap. The wizard ran one hand idly through the cat’s fur as he stared into the distance. 

From next to him Molly heard a soft sigh. He waited to see if Caleb would speak, but wasn’t surprised when he didn’t. 

“Beau was out of line,” he said at last. Caleb gave a huff of breath in response. “You were right to be concerned and she...well, I don’t know why she got so upset about it.” 

“Because I’m a shitty communicator?” asked Caleb after a moment. Molly shrugged.

“You...” Molly considered things, choosing his words carefully. “Some of the group, they react based on emotion. Jester liked Cali, so she got upset when you implied she might not be trustworthy. It doesn’t matter that you had a logical point, she just judges from the heart. Beau...I think Beau is similar. She rushes to judgment based on her feelings.” He looked to his right and saw Caleb was watching him, seriously. 

“You have all that intellect churning away, and you don’t stop to think about how other people around you feel. It’s good for the group. We need that.” He held Caleb’s gaze, the rare eye contact feeling intimate. “But it would help if you learned how to...well, how to speak the same language as the others.” Caleb blinked at him and then looked away thoughtfully. 

“Thank you,” he said quietly after a time. “For supporting me in there.” Molly smiled up at the stars. 

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Caleb.” He twisted the last words into a teasing lilt and was rewarded by a huff of laughter. 

“Shall I call you Mr. Molly?” Caleb shot back, catching him off guard.

“Ugh, no!” He shuddered. “That’s awful!”

“Mr. Mollymauk?” Caleb continued, his tone light and teasing, laughter humming under his words. 

“No, thank you! No ‘Mister’ anything, please.” 

“Too formal?”

“Too...not me. I’m not the ‘Mister’ type.” He gave another exaggerated shudder of horror. “Too limiting by half.”

“So what title would work for you?” Caleb was still smiling and it made Molly’s heart flip in his chest. 

“Hmm, ‘your grace’, perhaps?” he suggested with a smirk. 

“Or ‘your majesty’, I assume.” 

“Of course.” Molly nodded soberly. 

“My lord?” suggested Caleb in a lower tone. The barest hint of suggestion in Caleb’s voice sent a shiver of a new kind down Molly’s spine. _Oh._

He cleared his throat. “Darling, if you call me _that_ you’d better be prepared for the repercussions.” Caleb froze for a moment, and Molly could see his face blooming red before he turned away hurriedly and looked back up at the sky. For several moments a tension thrummed through the air, and Molly held his breath, wondering which way it would break. 

But it didn’t break. Eventually it just faded away as neither of them spoke. He was both relieved and disappointed at once. If that had been the moment, if the night ended with the two of them clutched together in passion in this little private space, he would have been thrilled. But it would have complicated things terribly. On the whole it was perhaps for the best that Caleb only reached for the bottle and took a long swig.

“Well, I’m almost dry. Finally,” commented Molly, tone perfectly casual. “And starting to feel that wine, so I think I’ll try to sleep.” 

“Alright,” said Caleb, still a little quieter than before. “I can make it dark in here.” 

“Doesn’t matter to me,” he replied. “I can sleep through anything.” He slid beneath his blankets and rolled to face away from Caleb. “Goodnight, Caleb. Get some rest. We’ll need you tomorrow.” Caleb made a noise of acknowledgment and the light around them dimmed, though starlight still illuminated them slightly. 

A few minutes passed before he heard Caleb’s throat clear. “Do you think they’ll want me to stay?” Caleb asked, voice wavering slightly. 

Molly’s breath caught in his chest and he grimaced to himself in the dark. He experienced an incredibly strong impulse to roll over and gather the other man in his arms, to comfort him and kiss him and compliment him until he felt better about himself, until he felt wanted. Instead he stayed where he was and just said, “Yes, Caleb. I do.”

~~~~~

Molly started awake, his heart pounding and adrenaline churning through him. He couldn’t place himself at first, which had its own special horror, but he had no time to dwell on that as he turned to the sound of strangled cries coming from his right.

And saw Caleb, thrashing in his sleep, making garbled and panicked sounds. Molly took two careful breaths during which time he remembered the evening before and identified the dome around him. Just nightmares, then. 

He bit his lip as he considered how to proceed. He had altogether too much experience with nightmares, both his own and other people’s, and knew waking someone in the throes of some personal horror could be dangerous. More so, he imagined, for a wizard prone to starting fires. 

Caleb gave a great jerk of his arms and a louder wail escaped his throat, suddenly cut off by choking. Molly found himself already reaching for his shoulder before he could think better of it, and he took hold of both Caleb’s upper arms, bracing himself in case things went poorly. 

“Caleb,” he called as he made contact and shook the slight man. Caleb’s eyes opened wide in a flash and he gasped. “It’s Molly, Caleb, you’re safe, everything’s alright,” he spat quickly before he could do anything unfortunate. Caleb froze, eyes locked in fear, but he didn’t struggle, just panted for breath. Gradually his breaths lengthened and some of the terror bled from his face.

“Mollymauk?” he said at length, voice high and rough. 

“Yes, love, it’s alright. You were having a nightmare.”

“ _Wo sind_..I mean, where…?” Caleb’s eyes were locked onto his, focused but still lost. He licked his lips as if to make them work properly again.

“We’re in Labenda Swamp. You made a magic shelter, you remember? It’s just you and I here.” He watched as more of the panic faded, but then Caleb squeezed his eyes shut. Despite this, a tear escaped from under his lashes and was illuminated in the starlight from above. 

“Oh, darling, it’s alright.” Molly let go of his arms and lay down close to Caleb’s side. He reached an arm over the wizard and tried to pull him towards his chest. It was an instinctive movement, the kind of thing he’d done for others in the circus when they woke in the night. He’d watched over Yasha for months upon her arrival due to how often she woke screaming. 

But Caleb stiffened and resisted at first, eyes flying open, shocked. So Molly shifted his hand up to carefully push the hair out of his eyes instead, stroking through the strands soothingly. “It’s okay,” he said, repeating the motion. Caleb’s eyes shut again and more tears spilled over. “It’s okay. I know all about nightmares.” 

Caleb was trembling under his hand. After he had worked his fingers through his hair a few more times he cratered, all at once, collapsing in on himself and towards Molly’s chest. Molly pulled him in roughly, holding him tight and letting him stifle his sobs against the front of his shirt. He continued the soothing motions against Caleb’s back and made soft nonsense sounds into his hair.

He had no idea how long a time passed before Caleb was quiet and still. Neither of them moved, and he wasn’t sure if the man in his arms was still awake or if he’d slipped into exhausted sleep. Molly felt himself drifting off and he shifted just enough to pull Caleb’s blanket over them both before he fell back into darkness.

~~~~~

“Caleb!” Molly blinked, shifting and growing confused by the warm weight against him. “Caleb!” the ragged voice repeated, and then continued, “Oh. _Oh._ ” Molly blinked in the beams of morning light and looked towards Nott, who was standing a few feet away.

A few feet away from where he and Caleb lay twined together in one bedroll, no longer sheltered by a magical privacy bubble. The left arm of his shirt was already almost soaked through from the moisture of the ground. He groaned and nudged Caleb. The mass of auburn hair on his chest lifted up with a grumble and then Caleb froze. He locked eyes with Molly for an instant, face going pink, and then hurriedly pushed away.

Molly couldn’t help a dry chuckle under his breath. “Good morning, Nott,” he said with a touch of sarcasm. “Anyone get eaten by fish people in the night?” He leaned way over, trying to avoid the wet ground, and snagged his boots. 

“Uh, no.” Nott glared at him and Molly gave her his best innocent face in return. “They’re wondering where you two are, though.” 

“We’ll be there in just a minute,” he said, raising his brows at her in emphasis. She scowled silently, looking over to where Caleb still had his back turned. 

“Fine,” she spat and trudged back towards the tree. 

“Well, it was nice being dry for a while, at least,” Molly said as he finished buckling his last boot around his thigh. Caleb didn’t respond. Molly stood, donned his coat (damp now, curses) and started rolling his bedding. Caleb followed suit, not looking up at him. 

Molly watched and when Caleb had finished he crossed to his side and stretched a hand down to help him to his feet. Caleb finally looked at him, his eyes startlingly blue in the morning light. “Come on,” said Molly. “Let’s not keep the team waiting. Mr. Caleb.” That sparked a smile across Caleb’s face and he reached up to grasp the offered hand. When he was standing, Molly let go, but Caleb kept his hand wrapped around Molly’s.

“Wait,” he said. “Mollymauk...” He looked at his feet, clearly uncomfortable. Then he set his jaw and gazed back into his face. “Thank you. It...means a lot.” 

Molly felt himself beaming in response as his heart stuttered in his chest. For an instant he was holding Caleb’s hand and they were smiling at each other in the sun and the world felt brighter than it ever had. 

And then he shrugged it off and released Caleb’s hand. “No problem,” Molly said with a tilt of his head, and turned to head back to the tree. He couldn’t help a small private smile as he walked, though, considering the magic of potential.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a story that wasn't porn!! Thanks for reading it! Comments are much loved and appreciated. 
> 
> If you think I'm not going to eventually use the Tiny Hut spell for some my own smutty purposes, you are WRONG. Y'all I don't even play DND but I did so much research on this spell. (I don't know if Mercer will give Caleb access to the spell in game, of course, cause it IS pretty damn powerful, but I feel justified in doing this based on him being level 5 now and having mentioned working on a shelter.)
> 
> You can come hang out and talk Critical Role with my at [GentlySociallyPinned on Tumblr.](https://gentlysociallypinned.tumblr.com/) I also have a [Ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/threerings#) if you feel inclined.


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